Patron Guest Post: Tips for your first Live Lesson (Patreon)

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Aloha all!  Our monthly Live Lesson is tomorrow.  If you are a new Patreon Patron or haven't participated in a Live Lesson yet, read on to get some advice from fellow Patron Mark Pierce .  Mark first posted and shared some tips for new Patrons in our secret Patron facebook group (see Community notes at the bottom for how to join).  I then asked Mark to write a guest post, and I think you'll really benefit from his insight. Thanks for sharing your aloha, Mark!
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So you decided to learn ukulele and discovered Cynthia Lin. You've taken her first six lessons on YouTube and you're ready for more - so you've joined up as a Patreon Patron. Good for you! You're in a good place here on Patreon. Not only is Cynthia a terrific uke teacher, you'll never find a more supportive community.

One of the greatest benefits of being a Patreon Patron is being able to participate in live jam sessions and live lessons. I've been a happy Cynthia Patron since January 2018. Here are a few pointers to help you get the most out of your Patreon experience.

• Prepare early. We've all been there. The lesson / jam session is scheduled for 7:30pm and you manage to turn on the computer on time. While you're waiting for it to boot up, you grab your uke and hear it's out of tune. Meanwhile, you're trying to remember exactly where to go to get the lesson started. Was that on Facebook? Patreon? YouTube? And where is that music sheet anyway? Panic creeps in!
  
  We've all been there. Even long-time Cynthia fans struggle to remember everything from month to month. To get the most out of your lesson/jam session, prepare early. If the lesson is scheduled for 7:30, get yourself set up at 7pm.
  
  Log into Patreon. Find the post with the link to the Live Event feed. Click on the YouTube link so you can watch it on YouTube. (to participate in the live chats you will need to be on YouTube!) Then go back to your Patreon link and download the music sheet or songbook. If you're going to use paper, print it out. Or use a different device for your songs sheets. Many of us will watch the video on a computer and follow along the song sheets using a tablet.
  
  While you're waiting, tune up your ukulele. Look over the song sheets. Check out the chords you'll be playing. Start practicing early. Shake out those fingers. When you see people starting to sign on, start up a conversation with them. You're among friends. If you're a bit older (have I mentioned you're among friends?), consider hooking up an external speaker so you have more control over the volume.
  
  All this takes time and patience. If you can take care of the tech issues sooner rather than later, you'll be rip-roaring ready to go when Cynthia appears magically on your screen! 
  
• Lower Your Expectations. Cynthia makes it look so easy! Her fingers just naturally seem to glide into place. And what was that strum? Down Down Up Up Down Up? Island Strum? Who's on an island anyway? Your first lesson / jam session can be intimidating! DON'T GIVE UP! It DOES get easier with time and practice. Here are a few clues to help you.
  
  Make sure you know the difference between the different monthly offerings from Cynthia. Usually there will be 3 different opportunities to learn from her in a live format.
  
  (1) Beginner Live Jam - this is where Cynthia is gearing her teaching to the basics -- how to position your chord hand, how to strum, etc. No question is off limits. Cynthia usually picks the easier songs to play and teach.
  
  (2) Intermediate Live Jam - the expected skill level ramps up. Those participating know the most frequently used chords and have mastered some basic strums. Different finger picking might be added in. Usually this jam has fewer participants. But that's great for those who want more individualized attention.
  
  (3) Live Lesson - This is the song lesson that the Patrons vote on each month. The songs vary greatly from month to month in difficulty level. My very first live lesson was "The Boxer" by Simon & Garfunkel. I still remember my head spinning as a brand new player that month. (I did eventually get it - just took a few months of dedicated practice.)
  
  So how does knowing the 3 types of live experiences help? If you are a beginner, you just don't ever want ever miss that Beginner Live Jam. That's the one dedicated to exactly where you're at in your abilities.
  
  However, this doesn't mean you need to skip the other two. Those are where the inspiration is located. If you just keep with it, you'll be able to do this! Still, that doesn't mean you can't learn good things from even the more advanced lessons. Cynthia never forgets who her audience is. She knows there are beginners in every session.
  
  So when Cynthia says, "If you're a beginner don't worry about the strum pattern, just strum the chord at each measure," OR "Don't worry about playing the more difficult chords, just play the ones you know," LISTEN TO HER! You'll get better at every jam. I promise you! But you won't learn everything at every jam. The key is to advance your skills just a little bit each time. Cynthia is one of the most patient teachers you'll ever met! 
  
• Replay, Replay, Replay! My final piece of advice to help you get the most out of your Patreon experience is to replay the jam / lesson video as often as you can. This is truly the genius of Cynthia's ukulele teaching program. There are no limits for how often you can replay a teaching video. When I started out I would often play the same video two, three, even four times. I always picked up something new that I had missed the first time. I also was surprised how much better I got each time. Skills I couldn't master the first time, I was executing with aplomb by my 3rd attempt.
  
  Here's a huge bonus for you as a Patreon Patron. You not only can replay the lesson / jam sessions you just participated in, you can also replay ANY video Cynthia has ever made available at your Patreon level! The entire library! Think of it - it's the middle of summer but you want to learn Christmas songs, no problem. Or there's a song lesson that Cynthia taught three years ago - no sweat. Everything that Cynthia has ever done is kept up to date by Cynthia's Community Managers. What a community! Bookmark this link for your future access to the Cynthia Lin Song Index, where you'll find an up-to-date Google spreadsheet with every link you could ever need. It's an impressive library. Your only limitation will be the Patreon level in which you are currently enrolled. Be sure you check out the different tabs of the spreadsheet to see everything that is available.

We live in a wonderful time. Just a decade ago we could not have participated in such an exhaustive ukulele tutorial program. I haven't even told you about the beautiful and supportive community on Facebook. Or the fun video clips you can find each week on Instagram. Or the extensive song sheets designed by Cynthia on Gumroad. So here's my final piece of advice - download the Cynthia Lin app - where you'll find just about everything related to Cynthia Lin. (Oh yes, this was also designed by Rich, another community member. We're quite the enthusiastic bunch!)

Keep at it. As our teacher says -- Just 5 minutes of ukulele practice a day! It's good for your brain! It's good for your soul!

-- 

In the Community Notes below, you'll find links to the many resources that Mark referenced.  You'll find these Community Notes at the end of every monthly calendar post.

COMMUNITY NOTES:

1. Join our private Facebook group: In the Facebook group, Patrons can share videos, advice, support, and encouragement!  Be sure to answer both membership questions so that Community Managers can verify your Patron status. If you wish to connect and are not on Facebook, you can share a post on the Community tab here on Patreon. If you have questions about Patreon or ukulele or otherwise, posting the question to our very helpful and active Community will generate the fastest answer.  

2. More Facebook public groups - we're using Facebook as our community gathering place because it has the best community features.  Find all the CL groups here, including the CL Uke Newbies group, the 100 Days of Ukulele Songs group, and several active regional groups (NYC / LA / Portland and more).  https://www.facebook.com/pg/cynthialinmusic/groups

3. Click for the super helpful CL Song Index of all songs, patreon posts, and tutorials (thanks to our Community Managers for building and maintaining this!)

4. Download the Cynthia Lin Patron App, created by our Patron Community Manager Richard! Android app| iOS app 

5. Find all Patron events on our Patron Google Calendar

6. Find answers to many Frequently Asked Questions in our New Patron Guide/FAQ post